Frito Chili Pie

 

This is a variant on one of my favorite dishes, adapted for easy prep for potluck in place of haystacks. There's two ways you can do this. Either is good. The first one we'll talk about is the easier to set up and faster to fix if you need a large meal, a few simple ingredients, for a lot of people and quickly or a quick supper for just one or two people.  Frito Pie is just the thing. This version is made with a new Loma Linda Product - Five Bean Chili. I like it because it's sweeter than most chilis. It's not up for sale on Amazon yet and at this writing they don't even have a picture of the can (below) on the website, but it should be appearing in ABC's around the country soon. Frito Pie is a Tex-Mex dish that works like this:

Just 4 simple ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Loma Linda Five Bean Chili. Worthington Chili is a little sharper if you prefer.
2. Chopped sweet onion (chopped green or jalapeno peppers are good but optional)
3. Fritos
4. Grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Heat Loma Linda Five Bean Chili in a pan - enough to feed everybody - a can feeds 3 or 4 with this recipe.
2. Once the chili is hot set out the pan with a bowl of chips, a bowl of grated cheddar and a bowl of chopped onions.
3. Now get yourself a bowl and cover the bottom with corn chips.
4. Spoon a generous portion of chili over the corn chips.
5. Sprinkle chopped onions over the chili.
6. Cover with grated cheddar to taste.

 

Alternative Preparation:  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a casserole dish, cover the bottom with Fritos.
3. Spoon chili over the Fritos and cover well.
4. Sprinkle with sauteed onions and peppers if you wish
5. Sprinkle a generous layer of cheddar cheese over all.
6. Bake until the cheese is fully melted, bubbling and brown slightly on top

Final comment:

Cover the casserole with foil and it's ready to transport to potluck. If you're in a hurry, you can simply heat the chili and let everyone make their own. as in the first set of directions. This is some good stuff any way you dish it up. I really like the slightly sweet taste of the new 5-Bean chili, but then I'm getting old and my stomach lining isn't as tough as it once was.

However you make it, this is a handy recipe to have in your potluck kit bag.

(c) 2015 by Tom King

Hobo Dinners

My wife thinks my putting ketchup on this stuff is
a desecration. She may be right.

Hi, folks. I'm back. I've been off the grid for a bit. Sorry about that. But in the meantime we've cooked up some really good meals and taken pictures. This time I'd already put ketchup on mine and Sheila had hers half eaten before I remembered to take a picture of it.

This is one of our very favorite recipes and it's probably the easiest one of the bunch.  Sheila calls this a "hobo" dinner because theoretically you could make this with a campfire and a big piece of foil and a few odd root vegetables.  Here's how it works:


Ingredients:

1. Potatoes, peeled and quartered
2. Onions, peeled and quartered
3. Carrots, peeled and cut in chunks (peeled baby carrots are perfect)
4. Can of Loma Linda Swiss Stakes or Worthington Vegetable Steaks or Loma Linda Redi-Burger
5. Salt & your favorite seasoning  (Make one for everyone and a really big one for yourself)
6. Foil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° 
2. Spread out large sheet of foil - 12x12 inches will do it.
3. On foil place carrots, onions, potatoes and half pieces of vege-meat
4. Salt and season. For added flavor you can sprinkle a little olive oil over all
5. Wrap ingredients with foil to make a little bundle.
6. Place foil wrapped veggies and vege-steaks in oven and bake till fork passes through potatoes easily.
7. Gently open foil wrapping and place hobo dinner on plate
8. The taste is incredible. The flavors blend so beautifully you don't need anything else except a tall cold glass of iced sweet tea (caffeine free of course).

This is a great recipe for a youth campout and really healthy to boot. Bring a sack of potatos, a sack of onions and a sack of carrots and cans of Vege-steaks. Have the kids peel their own veggies. Several rolls of foil and you're in business. These will cook in the coals of your campfire and come out amazingly tasty.

You can even do this with Redi-Burger since it can be taken out of the can in chunks and cooked that way and it will hold together. The original recipe uses balls of hamburger.  It's good stuff. If you wait around, you'll be sorry you did.

© 5/23/2015 by Tom King